


Lucid Dream

by Nualie



Series: Gloomdritch [3]
Category: Gloomverse (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe — Eldritch setting, Contracts, Eldritch, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Illustrations, POV Second Person, Pictures, Tags May Change, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, a lot of eyes are mentioned or drawn but not in a trypophobia way, all pictures are drawn by me unless otherwise specified, but some past events may not have happened as you remember them, despite being a fic set in an eldritchy setting it is surprisingly wholesome, everyone has different outfits because it amuses me to design them, if you're wondering who Cara is you can learn more about them on the blog~, in fact i am posting this instead of sleeping as well, may contain occasional body horror, references to murder but death isn't necessarily death-like here, several times, someone sneaked in a kiss but whether there will be a follow up on that is not in my hands, technically set after the events of the Midnight chapter, while this fic has a plot the specific actions of the characters are influenced by askers!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-02-16 09:02:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21505336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nualie/pseuds/Nualie
Summary: Rylie went to sleep expecting nightmares to end once she opened her eyes, but, she wakes up in a strange, dreamlike labyrinth, separated from most of her friends.Why was everyone sucked into this strange place? Who is watching them? Can you guide her and her friends home?An ongoing Gloomverse ask blog fic with eldritch elements, now available to read on this very archive as well!Visit the blog to catch up and send asks @gloomdritch!
Relationships: Harold Gloom & Prince Cirrus, Rylie "Assistant" Biv & Seaweed
Series: Gloomdritch [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1550101
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. 0000-0020

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Gloomdritch tumblr blog](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/536557) by Nualie. 



> This is originally an askblog, so the format may seem a little strange, but I hope it is enjoyable nevertheless! 
> 
> The content should be equivalent to @gloomdritch's #story tag in chronological order. AO3 updates will be done in batches, with several tumblr updates as one chapter.
> 
> For more information, visit this link: [Index](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/188931740900/index-faq)

##  [0000](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187031469295/0000)

_It feels like falling in a dream._ _  
_ _It’s a drop without height, no spatial substance. It’s falling immobile, just your heart and your will that drop into an abyss, and then— when the bottom is reached, with the violence of a feather touching ground— you open your eyes exactly where you left them._

The first thing you notice is a smell, a hazy smell like citrus and rotting seaweed and salt, acid and eons-old ocean mixing to dig into your pulsating headache. 

The night sky is too bright, tinted anise green. You see stars, barely visible in the brightness, but you don’t understand. A tall tower emerges from the rest of the misshapen forms everywhere around you, which would have been buildings— but they stare back. 

A lump forms in your throat.

_Child, be reassured. You are safe in this place…_

_Only you._

What..?

Whose voice was that? 

Did you imagine it?

It rang into your skull with garbled static, gone as soon as it came.

You struggle to your feet—

…right. Foot. Where… where are your crutches? 

Your gaze sweeps your surroundings. Just a few paces away, on the floor, they aren’t far. Crawling over to get them should be easy enough—

“Rylie!” 

Behind you. Your name. A voice, familiar this time. “Seaweed,” you say, a smile straining against your voice.

She recovers your crutches and helps you up. “You aren’t hurt?” You shake your head, nothing besides your now-fading migraine hurts, and she sighs in relief. The tension in her body lessens. 

“…any clue where we are?” She hugs herself like she’s cold, and you realize she’d thought she was alone in this place. “The last thing I remember is falling back asleep in the tent after Wallis stopped yelling.”

“Same for me…” The wisps of a dream you had grasps for your attention, but you can’t seem to recall it. Given your recent experience with dreams, you give up instantly. “Hey! If we’re both here, the others might be, too. We could look for them.”

You can see two symmetrical paths, wide enough for Wallis’ car to pass through, on either side of the odd tower-like thing ahead. A third middle one, almost too tight to let a single person walk, seemed to head in the tower’s general direction.

Seaweed hums pensively, also observing the alien landscape. “That tower’s the only distinct landmark. ‘Could help spot the others from above, if they don’t have the same idea.”

“Good point…”

The walls gurgle in approval, to your utter distaste.

**Where should Rylie and Seaweed go?**

  * **Follow the path on the right**
  * **Follow the path on the left**
  * **Follow the middle path**
  * **Or perhaps something else?**



**The number is 0001.**

**Write it in your ask for it to be counted.**

* * *

* * *

##  [0001](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187034606640/0001)

  
  


“…let’s take the middle path.” You gesture towards the tower. “You’re right… It’s our best bet.” 

Seaweed nods. You decide not to waste time and engage in the narrow path. …the walls part slightly to allow for your crutches not to bump into them. They seem to be squishy, just like the floor is, almost rubbery. From up close, they throb—

An eye blinks at you and you drag your gaze to the path ahead. You can hear Seaweed’s footsteps behind you. 

“…we can’t see anything beyond these… ” A glance is thrown over your shoulder. Your friend almost pokes a wall, then thinks better of it. 

“We could call out to them?” You suggest, taken by sudden inspiration. 

The place is strangely silent, besides the walls’ idle gurgling, your voice would be heard fairly easily.

“Worth a shot,” Seaweed acknowledges, before taking a deep breath. You barely have the time to brace yourself—

Her yell makes your ears whistle. Wow. Impressive lungs. “They’ve got to have heard that,” she smirks, readjusting her crown-hat, and you can’t help but chuckle. 

…the walls around you bristle, and you freeze. The eyes are blinking like crazy…

Your warning is a whisper; “I don’t think they liked that.” Seaweed reaches out for you, and you’re not sure whether she intends to pick you up and run or just shield you, but, eyes no less wary for it, her hand simply settles on your shoulder. 

There’s a pulsation within the walls since you yelled, and while it does still part for you, it closes behind and ahead of you, forcing Seaweed to remain near. It’s like you’re trapped in some kind of vein, with only ahead to walk…

You swallow the lump in your throat, and keep walking, Seaweed’s reassuring presence the main reason you’re not outwardly freaking out. It occurs to you that this could be a dream.

…you don’t feel like you’re going to wake up any time soon. 

When you reach the end of the narrow path, you find yourself in front of the tower. That was fast! 

A little too fast.   
Too easy. 

The tower looks to be about a dozen paces wide; smooth, like some kind of polished rock, but the color blends into the pulsating walls. Though she stays close, Seaweed lets go of your shoulder to inspect it, and you both circle the strange object.

There are no visible entrances.

“Should we try to touch it?” Seaweed suggests, but she sounds wary. When you approach your hand, she catches it. “Wait. It’s probably not safe.” 

You sigh. “Do we just wait to see if the others come, then? We don’t even know if they’re there…”

Seaweed drops your wrist, uncomfortable.

**What now?**

  * **Touch the tower**
  * **Wait**
  * **Something else?**



**The number is 0002.**

* * *

##  [0002](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187061367525/0002)

  
  


“Let’s wait around a bit,” you suggest. Seaweed visibly relaxes…

Setting your hat in your lap, you sit down on the floor, next to the tower, and wait… it’s quickly boring, and your mind grasps fruitlessly for something to do. 

Seaweed fiddles with her collar, sighing. The silence is thicker than lead. 

“We could always go back and check the other ways..?”

Seaweed shakes her head. “With how the passage was shifting, I don’t think that’s safe. At least this is an open area.”

…she’s right. You nod.

You’re there in your thoughts when the ground starts shaking. Seaweed leaps forward and clutches you— an earthquake? It’s over as soon as it begins, but the noise the strange walls make grows louder, and the blinking, more erratic.

The chattering of the walls give you an idea. You hop back onto your crutches and step closer. 

“Wha— Rylie where are you going?” 

“Shush. I’ve got an idea.” You hesitantly put a hand on the wall, next to an eye— it feels fleshy and gross, your hand sinks; there’s no worrying suction, at least. 

“Hello. Hi, weird wall with eyes!” 

Gurgle. Gurgle. 

“You guys wouldn’t have seen other… people around, would you?”

The answer is a low chittering, crawling among your bones like a hundred thousand spiders. You think there might be words, but you can’t hear right.

“…didn’t catch that.”

Another gurgle. 

“Still didn’t catch that. Um.” You gesture helplessly to Seaweed, who’s been frozen in place since you started talking to the wall. “Could you speak louder?”

Smacking you right in the face almost with physical force, the chittering intensifies just as another earthquake takes hold of the floor. You slip, almost thrown off your crutches.

  


Seaweed is as struck as you, if not more… she staggers backwards, right into the smooth surface of the tower. 

It shimmers when she touches it, but she disappears into it like it was never there, and the whole structure glimmers around you. The air distorts and the ground disappears as you scream her name—

You blink, and land into soft sand. Where are you? 

…a cave, partly filled with white sand. It’s dark, the rock deep blue to black, and the only light is a strong glow that comes from water nearby.

You’re a little dizzy from the change in locations, but you aren’t hurt. Where’s Seaweed?

…she isn’t anywhere near you, but there’s a dark tunnel digging into the wall, and you still have your crutches.

**What now?**

  * **Check the water pool**
  * **Go through the tunnel**
  * **Something else?**



**The number is 0003.**

* * *

##  [0003](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187082287025/0003)

  


“Seaweed!” You shout, but the only thing you get back is a disappointing, garbled echo. You hop to the only source of light, the translucent pool… 

Strongly enough to light your way and pepper the sand with glimmering specks, it’s glowing cyan; what you see when you peer into it isn’t a sun.

It takes you a moment to make out the globulous forms among the lace of their tentacles. Jellyfish… tiny glowing jellyfish, by the hundreds. Impulsively you dip your fingers into the water. It’s cold, but not as cold as you expected. You raise your cupped hands to your face… 

It somewhat cools your parched throat, but it’s _salty_. You choke on it and cough it out. Bad decision bad decision _bad decision_

You stare at the water, somewhat doubtful about whether the jellyfish are really the light source… there seems to be something else that glows more strongly below them, but the fauna curtain is too thick, you’d have to somehow swim closer to see.

**What now?**

  * **Swim**
  * **Try the tunnel**
  * **Something else?**



**The number is 0004.**

* * *

* * *

##  [0004](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187102668905/0004)

  
  


Disgusted by the seawater, you hop back to the tunnel. Perhaps you’ll have better luck..? You squint to try and see what might lie within.

You succeed in seeing absolute darkness. The kind that makes your skin and your mind crawl with bad memories that aren’t even yours. This… isn’t going to work. You don’t want to go in there. 

You sit in front of the pool again, and watch the glowing jellyfish. They could light your way… You dip your hands in the water again— only to collect a warning sting. You hiss in pain, hand suddenly burning despite the cool water. 

…this isn’t going to work without a container, or something else that glows… you peer into the water, but you still can’t make out what’s glowing so much down below. If you’re not going into the darkness— then swimming is it.

You take off your shirt and your pants, unwilling to drench them. At least the air is warm enough that you don’t feel cold. 

You pick up a sizeable rock, suddenly struck with genius, and throw it in the water. 

Victory! The jellyfish swim away from the disturbance. A couple rocks later, the way is… not quite _clear_ , but survivable. You can sort of make out the large shape below… some kind of coral, maybe? The pool is deep, deeper than you are tall— it’s a straight drop from where you sit, and you’re pretty sure there’s an underwater cave under this one. You’ll definitely have to dive. 

You dip your foot in. Cold… but not too cold. 

_Will I actually be able to swim like this?_

_…_

You take a deep breath, and let your body fall into the water— hissing when it reaches your chest, _cold cold cold—_

You dive before the jellyfish come back. Your eyes itch when you open them… 

There’s a floor, about twice your height down, constellated with miscealenous objects— you see skulls and jars and gold and fish bones. From the rock burst large leaves— like dew, large bubbles constellate the interweaving algae you feel tiny next to.

You turn to the source of the glow— farther, on the other side of the flooded cave, grows some kind of… the shape reminds you of a tortuous fruit tree, but why would there be a phosphorescent tree immersed in sea water..? 

**What now?**

  * **Investigate the tree**
  * **Use the bubbles**
  * **Rummage the floor**
  * **Dive back up**
  * **Something else?**



**The number is 0005.**

* * *

##  [0005](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187107221775/0005)

  


A plethora of ideas to try go through your head, but first— air. You approach one of the bubbles, and— okay, it refuses to detach itself from the algae, but you are relieved to find yourself able to breathe them in. You won’t run out of air anytime soon… 

You look around you, now less in a hurry. The walls are similar to those above the pool, the same black and blue material, but they’re cracked in places… Jellyfish can come and go, swaying by the currents, but most cracks aren’t bigger than your hand. You can’t dream to leave that way.

The density of the jellies is much more bearable at the depth you settled; you can spot no other threats. 

You swim down to the bottom and nab a glass jar; you don’t have a lid, but you trap one of the smaller, shinier jellyfish easily enough. 

You swim back up— narrowly avoiding the curtain of jellyfish by swimming closer to the wall, but you soon reach the thickest part of it, near the exit. You don’t have a rock this time… With dismay you realize you’re stuck for now.

…no matter. You set the jar aside on an outcrop, upside down to keep the jellyfish trapped inside. It makes no attempt to leave.

You go to the algae for air again, and turn to the tree. It takes you a bit of effort to reach it, the water feels… heavier, denser the closer you get. Still, you can hold and kick the algae for extra leverage— you manage.

The tree soon sprawls before you… the trunk is twisted on itself, the branches strain against the cave walls. Also dotted with air-dew, the leaves curl around about a dozen round fruit as if to protect them. Each fruit is about half as big as you are tall, not quite opaque, but not transparent either… there seems to be something inside them— you can’t make out what from this far.

**What now?**

  * **Examine the fruits**
  * **Examine the leaves**
  * **Something else?**



**The number is 0006.**

* * *

* * *

##  [0006](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187129226840/0006)

  


You swim down for air dew, catch sight of more rubble among the tree’s roots. A broken off branch, an incredibly rusty knife, more glass jars, some broken, and what looks to be an old but ornate skirt. 

You poke the leaves with the branch. They bristle, briefly grasping at you— you expected them to attack, but they don’t seem to take this bump as a threat.

…but now you know they can move somewhat. 

The light from the white trunk is almost blinding, but you keep hold of it to peer closer at one of the “fruits”— you think of holding the jar-ed jellyfish closer, maybe for extra light, but you left it on the other side of the cave.

There’s… a solid shape inside, but it’s not a pit. The shape is too irregular for that. You squint, trying to get used to the light… 

Oh.

 _Oh_.

Seaweed? 

Your friend Seaweed is there— no. It can’t be, the shape is much too small. This is a child. A child in foetal position inside a fruit _what in the world is going on_

Still. You couldn’t help but think _Seaweed_ when you caught a glimpse of the child’s face. Something about the closed eyelids, the skin tone, the bump of the nose you can see from the side. They are an Ecoversian— their head is covered in algae, unlike your friend’s who has hair, but still. It’s chilling. 

**What now?**

  * **Free the child (How?)**
  * **Look for a way to leave the cave.**



**The number is 0007.**

* * *

##  [0007](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187176463845/0007)

  


You are… conflicted.

You try to tug on the fruit— the leaves bristle in your direction, tugging at your wrist, and when you break free you tear out a couple. You swim back to air for a second and figure that if you can save this kid— they’re gonna need air, too.

…or are they? You go back to the fruit. Press your face against the surface. Are they breathing..? 

…yes. Their chest rises and falls. They seem asleep. You catch a small movement that wobbles the sphere, though. Alive. The kid is alive and— 

Trapped.

Alright. You cast aside your doubts, and swim down, leaves covering your palms, to snatch the rusty knife. …it probably won’t work to burst the kid’s bubble, but it could be useful…? You pocket it and bring your attention to the sharp glass shards. There. Sharp. 

You swim back up. 

There goes nothing! You hold the sharp glass against the surface— which, surprisingly, bursts immediately, and with more violence than you expected. You’re projected across the pool, next to your captured jellyfish, and your back hits the wall, pummelling the air right out of you. Everything starts to unnaturally fizzle out…

You hear the child scream when they’re projected right into the jellyfish. ~~It can’t be Seaweed’s voice please it can’t be possible~~

You’ve made a _terrible mistake_ —

But before you can reach out, catch them, anything at all… the world freezes. 

You hold your breath, the little air you have left, entirely against your will, and reflexively clutch the jar nearby.

There’s like a stutter around you, and the water bursts up into the cave, taking the child with it almost possessively… but you and everything you’re touching remain completely unaffected, like you aren’t even there. 

…while the jellyfish are still astray, you swim back up and collapse back into air, shivering and coughing. Your clothes are still there, undisturbed… but there are footsteps in the now wet sand, and— 

Blood. You shudder. 

Your gaze follows the droplets. The dark opening in the wall… The footsteps come and go from there as well, though too large to belong to a child. Someone or _something_ took them. Saved them..? 

…or kept them captive underwater.

You put your clothes back on, surprised by the speed at which you’re drying off. Your jellyfish jar is intact next to you. You have light. The weight of the rusty knife is impossible to ignore, just like your latest well-intentioned catastrophe. 

**What now?**

**The number is 0008.**

* * *

##  [0008](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187199014170/0008)

  


You take a moment to calm your racing heart. 

Guilt feels like an unrestful sea within you, wrecking havoc within your ribcage.

…breathe slowly. Hold. All over again. You couldn’t have known. You tried to help…

You still can. The child can’t have been brought far. 

When your limbs stop shaking, you retrieve your crutches. How are you going to hold your makeshift lantern…? You can keep the knife in your belt, but… you can’t just hold the pot at the same time as your crutches.

…hm?

The explosion of water that dragged the kid out into the cave did splatter the sand with some junk. Maybe you can find something…

Some shredded algae (eight packs of them), a few more jellyfish (gross), a few bones (grosser), a torn white long-sleeved shirt (with a mostly intact, large front pocket), a necklace with an empty cage-like pendant (sadly too small to hold the pot), and some kind of thin rope. 

…you’re almost ready to go after the kid and whatever got them. You just… have to figure this out. 

**What now?**

**The number is 0009.**

* * *

##  [0009](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187267997695/0009)

  


A number of ideas go through your head. You start by pulling the necklace around your neck, and consider trying to make a spear with the rusty knife, but… you’re not sure how to go about it, so you drop the idea. 

Next, you pass the rope around the lid of the jar; the rope is tough enough but rough… passing it through the sleeves of the shirt does the trick. There. The shirt’s pocket even makes for a convenient extra storing space. 

Your makeshift lantern wobbles when you stand back on your crutches, but the jar doesn’t spill. Great.

You skid along the sand and dive into the darkness. 

…the glow of the jellyfish is barely strong enough to light the area ahead of you, and the only reason your crutches don’t slip on pebbles or into cracks. The shadow it casts of you is a twisted, mutated thing you don’t recognize, and you spot blood once every few steps. 

After what seemed like an eternity, but could just as easily have been mere minutes, you see light ahead of you. The outside..? No. The glow felt unnatural… too flash, too blue. Another cave, then..? 

You peek cautiously. It’s larger, with several pools of water not unlike the one you dived into earlier, but none of them glow nearly as much (No more trees?). You also spot glowing crystals hanging from the ceiling, giving an ethereal blue glow…

You hear some noise off to your left, but that side of the cave is more exposed, bare rock and water and crystals… on your right are piles and piles of junk and bones, but you have no idea whether the kid is there.

**What now?**

  * **Go left**
  * **Go right**
  * **Something else?**



**The number is 0010.**

* * *

##  [0010](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187278550900/0010)

  


You decide the noise is too much of a risk, and hope off to hide. The piles of junk are mostly full of broken objects, most of which beyond recognition, but you do spot some glittery things… gold? There’s gold… Uh. 

You also spot some glowing rocks, likely broken off the ceiling crystals. 

You spot a pool close by, and tentatively throw the necklace in. To your surprise, it’s thrown back at you.   
…a strange creature rises above the surface. It’s entirely made of water, but you can clearly see a torso, head and hair, arms… what??? Where are its brains??? 

You caught the necklace, but it doesn’t seem to have spotted you yet.

**What now?**

  * **Try to talk to it**
  * **Freeze**
  * **Backtrack to the entrance**



**The number is 0011.**

* * *

##  [0011](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187331108540/0011)

  
  


You consider trying to talk; but the fear outweighs it, and you slowly backtrack where you came from. Walking backwards with crutches isn’t as easy as you’d like, though, and one of them hits a bone; it’s noisy. It startles you, and it startles the water being (the monster who took the child?), and you freeze in your tracks…

…

The head is turned in your direction… but it’s like it can’t see you. It’s looking right _through_ you. 

You wait with bated breath, and after a minute it flops back into regular pond water. Still, you make your way back to the cave entrance, unwilling to try your luck again…   
You can still hear some noise off to your left, though that side of the cave is the most exposed, bare rock and water and crystals… but since it seemed the monster couldn’t see you..? 

**What now?**

  * **Go left**
  * **Examine the pool-dotted floor**
  * **Something else?**



**The number is 0012.**

* * *

* * *

##  [0012](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187370325085/0012)

  


You focus on the floor. Now that you’re attentive to it… mangled fabric is strewn about everywhere. One of the piles of Stuff has been massacred, like someone had brutally cleaved through it. 

You swallow the lump in your throat and cautiously make the inventory of the situation flooring you.

For the most part, the chaos seems to mainly consist of old clothes, some of them moldy or ripped, though you notice smashed bones as well. You notice a few seem to have been purposefully torn apart; the laceration is straight and almost methodical. 

…you are positive this happened while you were gone. None of this was there earlier. If you’d hesitated… you would’ve been there to see whatever creature had rampaged here. You could have been right in the middle of it…

…

Breathe. You have to find the kid and… you’re not sure. Escape. Figure out where you are, where Seaweed is, where in the world you even woke up—

Breathe. You squeeze your eyelids closed.

In, and out. You’re okay. You’re standing, you’re okay, you’ll be fine. One thing at a time. Don’t panic. 

When you feel stable again, you make your way to the left, following close to the wall and keeping an eye on the spotty trail of fabric shreds. You don’t want to be sneaked up on. The noise has quieted somewhat, but you can still hear— the distorted echo of a voice?

Can’t be the child you freed. It sounds older, and they couldn’t have been more than twelve… the tone reminds you of Seaweed, but the rhythm’s all wrong. Quicker, snappier, without the cool, loose feeling Seaweed gives off. you’ve thought before that it’s like her tongue is made of mint. This one… stressed… even angry? Sharp, bitter apple cider comes to mind. You don’t think your friend would ever speak quite like this.

…are more people stuck here, then? Or is this some kind of trap?

You sneak closer, as silently as your crutches permit it, but eventually your path is blocked by the combination of a large pool and a glowing crystal. Drat. The tip of the stone is almost broken off, you could snap it right off. It glows more strongly than your captured jellyfish… which you miraculously haven’t spilled yet. It’s only a question of time…

Besides that… you’ll have the backtrack a little and head deeper into the cave, exposed on all sides in search of the kid and the voice. Hopefully they will be together… You can spot two tunnels; one which has a light breeze coming from it, and the other… that’s where the voice comes from.

…you don’t know where the monster headed, though.

**What now?**

  * **Snap the crystal into your necklace.**
  * **Take the breeze tunnel**
  * **Take the voice tunnel**
  * **Something else?**



**The number is 0013.**

* * *

##  [0013](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187405688955/0013)

  


You snap the crystal off and set it into the necklace, before freeing the jellyfish into the pool. You don’t need your complicated outfit anymore, though you keep the rope in the pocket of the shirt just in case. 

You can walk faster now, without risking a dangerous sting-filled spill. Yay!

You head off in the tunnel with the voice. The crystal lets you see where you put your crutches, just a little better than the jellyfish…

The shadows shift as if to speak to you; but you ignore them. You lost too much time. If the kid was in danger, you’ll be too late… So much can happen in what you estimate to be about an hour. Guilt gnaws at your guts. 

…the occasional echo of voice isn’t distinct enough to understand, but you do find it becomes progressively louder. You must be heading in the right direction.

…you haven’t heard words since you were transported here. You missed them. You miss your friends… you miss Seaweed. You hope she’s safe.

The tunnel has a light downwards curve, and slowly fills up with soft, glittering sand… muffling your footsteps, which is good, but you’re afraid your crutches will slip… You walk carefully, and thankfully, by the time you make a final turn, you haven’t fallen over. 

You see light. A soft orange glow, like candlelight… the speaking person must be there… 

There’s a groan that startles you. Definitely a human-sounding voice. “What a stubborn kid.” 

The child from before really must be there! Did that person save them? Or did they sneak them off the monster’s grasp? …could they be the “monster”? You realize your understanding of the situation is narrow at best… 

…how are you going to approach them? Should you let them see you?

**How will you enter the room, and what do you want to ask?**

**The number is 0014.**

* * *

##  [0014](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187454034070/0014)

  


…this person hadn’t been talking about you, right? Did they know you were there? The thought chills your insides.

You will go with caution, but decide against hiding. It might be… misinterpreted. 

You walk forward, crutches crunching into the soft sand carpeting this part of the cave. It’s quite small, with a single pool off to the side, and adorned with a pile of surprisingly clean fabric that two people are currently resting on.

The first your mind focuses in on is the kid from before. Her(?) eyes are closed— asleep— and she’s been dressed and dried, which is a relief. Ripped fabric has also been wrapped tightly around her arms and legs… 

You remember the blood… emergency bandages..?

The second person is… 

You think you see a young ecoversian woman, whose eyes are closed as if in slumber; but the instant you do focus on her, an indescribable terror overtakes you. Waves crash around the cave with humongous violence. You are so far underwater that the sun is a distant legend, and all that surrounds you is water and corpse dust; you are a tropical crab ripped to pieces by a predator; you are— 

She is not there. You are not here. No… you are… you are not there. 

Your eyes anchor themselves to the floor. The cave. The child. Your friends. Seaweed… 

Some of your questions have been answered. You found the kid. Maybe… maybe what this place is would be a good question. 

You open your mouth, find your exhausted voice, and get her attention. 

“Excuse me… What is this place?”

Eyes snap open— you avert yours, unwilling to be mesmerized by the ghost ocean again. 

You must be looking silly, with your random junk getup and shiny crutches in the middle of a seaside cavern. 

“I’m looking for my friends—” you croak almost confidently to the heavy silence, but she interrupts you. Her voice is the bitter one you heard before.

“You aren’t welcome here.” 

The terror threatens to wash over you again, but you stand your ground. “I’ll leave as soon as I know how! I just don’t know what’s going on—”

“I know you’re hiding.” 

What?

She growls. “If you don’t leave my home—” 

Power courses through the room… she is not to be trifled with.

“I will make you, _Amadeus_.”

**What now?**

  * **Ama who now???**
  * **Attempt to confront her (but how??)  
**
  * **Try to run away into the dark tunnel..?**
  * **help**



**The number is 0015.**

* * *

##  [0015](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187498311925/0015)

  
  


Ama who??? There’s… she has the wrong person. You know she does—

“I’m not— I’m Rylie! I’m so sorry I…” You feel tears prick your eyes, the stress of the situation trickling down your cheeks. “I don’t know who Amadeus is— I need your help. Please, I don’t know where I am or where my friends are…” Your voice breaks into a sob and you ragingly wipe the wet out of your eyes.

The woman seems thrown off by your crying. You wait for a beat, trying to control the lump in your throat, and she simmers back down into calm.

“…what name did you say?” The voice is gentler… uncomfortable, somewhat confused, but calmer.

“R-Rylie..?” you sniffle. …you hate that you feel like a kid. You thought that wouldn’t happen anymore, once you’d have magic, but here you are, and that was a long time ago.

“Alright. Rylie. There’s an empty space where you should be, which means…” She shakes her head. “You aren’t where you should be. I’ll send you away.” 

She raises her hand, but you interrupt her. “Wait! My friend—” Seaweed you need to find Seaweed— “I was with somebody.”

“…then they must have already woken up.” She shrugs. “I can only feel one dream here.”

“What..?”

“Well… I thought you were… I should have found you earlier, I think they hid you.” She frowns. “They’re very good at it… but I can tell, if I know to look for empty spaces. You are alone.”

The lump in your throat permits a single syllable. “Oh.”

“Don’t worry. You will wake up wherever you came from.”

She strains a reassuring smile, tucking the sleeping child next to her as she makes space to… move. She’s doing as she said, sending you away.

This is a crossroads.

**What now? Any last questions..?**

**The number is 0016.**

* * *

##  [0016](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187596322390/0016)

  


“Wait hold up I still—” You have so many questions— “Is the kid going to be okay?”

She pauses, glances over. “It’s not what you think it is, but yes. Its wounds should heal soon.” 

“…what?” …it. It? That doesn’t ring well with you.

She sighs. “This form is somewhat deceptive. I made it human-like with some help, but…” She waves, and the water in the pool rises into the human-like form you spotted earlier. “It is not different from these— besides that it is meant to be a hollow shell, rather than an extension of me.”

The not-kid squirms in her sleep.

“As far as I’m aware, the most it can do is dream around its own head.”

…you… you don’t like this.

“Are you sure that’s..?” 

There’s a wave of uncomfortable energy that makes the stone around you shudder. You clamp your mouth shut. “I know it’s tempting to think otherwise. Don’t.” 

You’re not sure if she’s talking to you or herself, but you decide you’d better change the subject. “What is this place?”

She seems to welcome the change as well, and answers easily. “My home.” You don’t think you’ll get more out of her. 

“…do you know where I was originally?” You work through the hard lump in your throat, refusing to let it silence you.“I don’t know how I got here— got to any of these places— this isn’t like the world I’ve known all my life. Do you have any advice for when I return? Please…”

She seems a little taken aback. “I… don’t know. I do believe you are dreaming, but that is hardly my primary field of expertise.” She cocks her head. “That you are both here and halfway corporeal, rather than on a more… imaginary plane, could mean a number of things, none of them likely to be caused by a human… Not to mention you have a spell on you…” 

“Imaginary..?”

“Think of it as a dream world? The main difference with planes such as these—” She gestures around. “—is that, unlike _real_ planes, they can be influenced by anyone’s thoughts and memories.”

“Oh.” Is that where you were earlier? A dream world?

“I can only send you back to where you came here from,” she continues. “If it was a dream world, you will have to wake up on your own from there.”

You nod, repressing the despair straining your limbs. You feel… _slightly_ more in control of your situation. “How do I wake up?”

“Well… awareness would usually serve you, but if you weren’t alone, you will need to wake everyone who was trapped together…” She fiddles with her hair long “hair” thoughtfully. “Since you seem stuck halfway between real and imaginary even when sent back here, it is also possible that you will need to physically change locations as well.”

“…what?”

She shakes her head. “Don’t worry about it. The very fact that Amadeus put a spell on you means that you are being looked after somewhat. You will likely be rescued.” A strained smile. “Good luck.”

Her hand touches your chest, and _phases through it—_ but you don’t have time to be disturbed. The array of miscellaneous objects you had collected starts to fall through you as well, and you feel yanked backwards— 

The world around you falls into darkness until you hit the ground. (How? You didn’t feel yourself moving.) There’s a small weight on your chest, and around is a familiar chittering.

**What now?  
The number is 0017.**

* * *

##  [0017](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187618547280/0017)

  


Unmoving, you concentrate on the noise all around you… it’s familiar, very familiar… 

…the chattering walls from before… You’re back into the dream, as promised.

You shake your head clear of salt-tasting cobwebs and open your eyes, sitting up. “Hello?” You ask the air, still somewhat disorientated… 

The tower is still there, but it’s… lazily glowing blue. There’s an unusual weight around your nec— Seaweed!

Seaweed is right there… in the tower’s wall. Her eyes are closed, nononono—  
  
You scramble to your foot, straightening up with your crutches in a flash. Don’tbedeaddon’tbedeadon’tbe—

You reach up and touch her cheek… it’s warm… you feel her breath against your palm. Relief washes you so hard you stagger.

Asleep..?

Her face contorts as if in pain… it’s not a nice dream she’s having. Before anything else you need to find a way to free her.

**What now?  
The number is 0018.**

* * *

##  [0018](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187649732195/0018)

  


Right. Right. It kind of answered you last time. 

“Can you please let her go?” you ask, but the walls chitchat on with no particular reaction. Like they’re not paying attention to the tower area anymore. Seaweed’s head lolls to the side…

Okay, next plan. Next plan. You address your friend directly, reach out for where her hand would be if she wasn’t embedded in the wall.

“Seaweed, wake up! Wake up please…” 

You can’t panic now you can’t panic _now_

You remember the last time you lost your cool, the last time you were upset and heartbroken and tired, you remember when _you punched her in the face and her wand cracked and disintegrated into a flash of white—_

You shake your head, push against the wall… It feels fleshy and gross, you hate every inch of the skin-like texture touching yours. How much worse must it feel for Seaweed?

“… please, wake up _please_ …” 

Your mind scrambles for a solution, _anything_.

_Kiss her._

Fuelled by desperation, the thought and your body sync before you can process it… you reach up— the wall is holding her a little taller than you are— you don’t want to think about that— and your lips brush against her cheek, next to the corner of her lips. 

“Seaweed…” You’re choking, all on your own, you need _somebody_ , you’re lost and scared and _eighteen_ —

Can’t you have a miracle, just once? 

You kiss her again, and her eyes flutter open just as you pull back. Oh. It worked? Shit did she see—

“Rylie wha..?” 

The wall gurgles and spit her out onto you. You both collapse under the force, and you in particular are feeling hysterical laughter bubble up your throat. _She’s there, she’s alive and she’s awake with you and she’s here—_

“Shit are you hurt? Please stop crying I’ll get off—”

You’re crying? 

Oh. Yeah. You are. You’re crying and laughing all at once. 

You grapple her arms and hold her where she is, where she feels most real; which happens to be “awkwardly straddling you” because you fell backwards and you can’t believe how long you held that panic in. 

…her eyes fall on your throat when you’re too busy releasing tension to notice; it comes to your awareness when you feel soft fingers lift something off you.

A necklace… with a glowing piece of rock in it. The neon glow hues her eyes into aqua blue. 

…it came back with you?

“Where did you find this..?” She sounds disturbed. Right. You didn’t have it before. 

“You’re…” You’ve caught your breath now, but mad giggles still threaten your lungs. “You’re not gonna believe me.”

She raises an eyebrow and smirks, gesturing to the realm you’re both trapped into. “Try me.“

**What now? How much should you tell her..?  
The number is 0019.**

* * *

##  [0019](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187774987375/0019)

  


She insists on crawling off of you before you talk, which you figure is fair, but you don’t want to let go completely. She lets you hold onto her sleeve. 

“So,” you start, and recount everything in order after she fell into the tower. The falling, the cave, diving in the pool of water seeking light— the jellyfish and the tree, the impulse to “save” the children—

Her eyebrows rise as you talk, and you see a reflection of panic in her eyes. 

…is she trembling because she’s holding her arm out to you, or..? 

You speak of how you got the child out, how the water took her— you figure the mysterious lady you met later did that, now that you think of it. You don’t tell her how you struggled to pick yourself up, or how you had to scrounge up junk to be able to hold both your crutches and the light, but you do mention picking up the necklace. 

Her expression is unreadable, but the trembling hasn’t stopped.

The trek into the tunnels, the room full of junk and bones and treasures, the water-made creature, the glowing rock you picked up— you hold the necklace out into your palm, perplexed— and finally meeting your host.

You hesitate about telling her of the wave of terror that grasped your soul when you saw her. You feel silly about it. But you’d decided you’d say everything, so everything is it. 

You try to recall the specifics of her explanation— dreams and someone she mistook you for— all you really understood was the dream thing, though. This is what this place is. 

“She said we need to wake everyone up to escape,” you remember, and Seaweed nods wordlessly.

That reminds you of something, but the memory slips before you can grasp it.

“And then… I found you here… and you fell on me.” yeah you don’t need to mention the impulsive kiss thing do you

“And you? How did you… get up there..?” 

She shrugs. “Hell if I know. Last thing I remember was falling into that tower thing.”

“Oh. Okay.”

…she’s not meeting your eyes. 

**Focus is slipping, slowly. Perhaps this could be the last chance to talk to Seaweed in a while.  
What now?  
The number is 0020.**

* * *

##  [0020](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187849015155/0020)

  


“Seaweed? Are you alright?” 

She flinches and grins. “Totally fine.” Your friend hides her hands in her lap. She’s not even looking at you.

…yeah right.

“You…” You don’t know what to say, so you gently cup her face. “You’re important.” …that’s so cheesy, your cheeks will cook you alive. 

Still, your thumb brushes her cheek. Guides her gaze to you. “You know you can trust me, right?” Her eyes widen… 

You can’t quite read the emotions borrowing her eyes. It reminds you of something old, something blue. Clotted blood caking yearning, itchy fingers… a new wound over a faded scar. 

She leans towards you; for a second you think she’ll try to wake you up. 

She bumps your foreheads together. That is _not_ helping the blush any.

“You’re sweet.” 

She’s smiling a little bit more sincerely. “I’ll be alright.” Deep breath. “Just… give me a moment.”

You nod carefully, staring through your eyelashes— unwilling to break contact.

_You feel a jolt in focus, a weight shifting._

_You are now bigger than the universe, yet less than a person. Your awareness currently spans a very narrow space, but you’ve lost your grip on the thread you were holding onto._

_You rage for a moment, a short moment only. Thankfully there are more this void lets you grasp. Through them you can find your way back… Two, in fact._

_One is more evasive, and it gives you an echo, as if hollow._

_The other is a stronger pull… tastes distant. Not quite severed. Yet…_

**Which will you follow?  
The number is 0021.**


	2. 0021-0026

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harold wakes up held by Cirrus and screams a lot. 
> 
> Because they're being chased by a monster, not because of the holding.
> 
> They meet a mysterious figure...

##  [0021](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/187962635435/0021)

  


_After thinking for a moment, you grab at the weaker trail. It almost slips from your grasp, but you persist. Pulling and pulling and pulling and pulling and—_

_Tendrils extending across dimensions, you melt into the dream, intangible._..

 _You see a flash of yellow._ _You hiss soundlessly._

_Shadows spreading. Vacuum parting. Searching. Ripper._

_Oh, no. Not this time not this time not this time._

_Not again._

_…_

Your name is HAROLD GLOOM, and you have a feeling that you are being used to make a PARTICULARLY STUPID REFERENCE.

Nevertheless, that is the least of your troubles. You were peacefully asleep, mentally exhausted, until you were rudely jolted awake by something grabbing you and lifting you off the ground. 

This, understandably, starts up the day quite badly.

You’re now being swung around with an excessive amount of speed for your level of awareness, and no amount of sluggish, sleepy flailing breaks you out of it.

Rude. 

**What now?**

**The number is 0022.**

* * *

##  [0022](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/188175334980/0022)

  


You flail harder, but all you get for your trouble a whack on the head.

Uhh??? 

You open your eyes and fall nose to nose with a…

Shirt? A mostly white shirt? Since whatever grabbed you did so by taking hold of your middle, your torso and head are upside down. Below you is a yellowish sky, above is a gross-looking purplish floor. 

Your forehead bounces off a leg. Oww. 

Just then you catch sight of something very large, very dark, and very toothy. Something that is following you and your mysterious kidnapper. Um. That’s. That’s a lot in thirty seconds!

So you do the only logical thing you could possibly do. You scream.

“OH MY FUCK WHAT IS _THAT_?!”

You visibly startle your savior, because they flinch to your voice and almost drop you. Considering you’re several strides up in the air— wait what? 

“If you are properly awake wiLL YOU STOP MOVING—” 

The last few words are high-pitched screeches most unbecoming of your savior: the Prince of Stratoverse himself. A thorn-filled appendage barely missed the both of you. (That’s when you notice he’s carrying your hat in his free hand. Oh. Thoughtful.)

“HOW ARE YOU EXPECTING ME TO BE CALM—”

**Well… that’s a pickle! What now?**

**\- Tell Cirrus to zap the thing**

**\- Get your hat and make yourself useful**

**\- Maybe fly higher??**

**\- where the heck is everyone**

**\- literally any solution would be nice**

**The number is 0023.**

* * *

* * *

##  [0023](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/188638206850/0023)

  


A number of thoughts go through your mind. You snag the hat hanging in Cirrus’ grasp, to start with. 

…no tiny hand answers your call, though, and Cirrus looks at you funny between a couple dodges.

Okay. Okay. Stay calm. Jaws clack right at the ball of your feet. You’re not calm. “CAN YOU FLY A BIT HIGHER MAYBE?”

“It’s not landbound, but—” CLOSE ONE AAAH “—the walls do hinder its movements—”

“ZAP IT THEN!” 

A powerful bolt of lightning hits it square in the nose… thing… which has eyes on it…….

It roars, like that didn’t affect it at all. Fuckfuckfuck—

The blue walls around you waver, their murmurs suddenly growing louder. Their eyes focus on the creature, blinking in sync with the excited chitters.

They close in on you and the beast both.

Cirrus dashes upwards just in time to avoid the jaws, but the _thing_ that’sbeen attacking you isn’t quick enough. It gurgles like it’s in pain, reaches up towards the loathed floating form that is both of you, pleads with you with a hundred thousand golden eyes as the dream devours it.

It wants you to save it.

**What now?  
  
The number is 0024.**

* * *

##  [0024](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/188831739295/0024)

  


_What do you want?_

It cannot speak, but the thing between the jaws of the dream wants to live, that much is obvious; It’s many eyes pulsate like hearts, pleading with you like you have any power at all. 

You clutch the hat in your hand, resenting its nature. Throwing candy at it isn’t going to help.

So you do the next most stupid thing, and extend your free hand downwards. Cirrus almost lets go of you in your _complete and utter stupidity_ , “ _What are you doing!?”_

The monster reaches up at you, takes hold of your hand, wraps warped flesh and eyes around it. Gross gross gross— but the dream stops devouring it, like it’s recognized you.

You feel a spark. A _thank you_ in the clacking jaws as it pulls itself out of the trap that saved you from it— what’s this other noise?

Oh. Right. Cirrus is screaming at you. For good reason. You don’t know what you’re doing! You’re doing something really stupid!

“Get it off you RIGHT NOW,” he says, “LET IT GO,” but you ignore him. That’s pretty cold but that’s never bothered you anyway. Something’s taken ahold of your hand, mind, and your red eyes don’t react when the black rot creeps up your arm for a better hold. There’s an inherent _wrongness_ to its power— you feel it press against your thoughts, and it feels almost homely, really. 

Someone tugs you. Right. It’s Cirrus. Cirrus’s saved you once before. You’re doing a pretty crappy job paying him back now that he’s done it twice. You don’t want anything to happen to him because of you. 

_Is it your wish?_

The yellow eyes look deep into yours, asking a simple question without any consequences at all. Nothing binding, not like the claws gripping your arms tighter and tighter, just a simple question it really, really wants you to answ—

**_How DARE YOU._ **

The jaws of the dream have extended farther since you last looked at them— with an uncannily void sense of purpose. Something within your perception you just can’t see— else the monster you’re holding would have sensed it, too.

Fangs and jaws close in on it and you feel the connection snap. Cirrus finally yanks you away from the monster— oh gods what the hell were you doing you _let it touch you_ gross gross gross what was it doing to you—

You both fly to ground, Cirrus seemingly not caring much for the floor at the moment, because he drops and then proceeds to shake you like a fruit tree. 

“WHAT WERE YOU DOING?! HAVE YOU GLOOMVERSIANS NEVER BEEN TAUGHT _ANYTHING_?!” His cloud hair’s zaps the floor, and you flinch. He looks… very scared, and very mad, and it’s all your fault. His fists tremble, clenched on your shoulders, and he tears his eyes away from you to look at someone else. “He didn’t contract it, did he?” 

The answer seems to reassure him, because he relaxes a fraction. 

…weird. You didn’t hear anything. 

“What are you?” Cirrus asks again, and you look over your shoulder, but you don’t see anything. Just… nothing. There should be something there, but there’s nothing at all Cirrus is talking to…

**What now?**

**The number is 0025.**

* * *

##  [0025](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/189013058250/0025)

  


You’re… confused. there’s nothing but air where Cirrus is looking, and yet he seems to be talking to somebody… “Who are you talking to?” 

Cirrus glances back to you. “Hm?”

“What are you seeing..? There’s nothing there.”

Cirrus frowns, opens his mouth— but then snaps back to whatever he’s been conversing with, listening intently.

Whatever it is, it seems to be what saved you. You stare down at your arm and sleeve— your arm is still invisible, but there’s rotting black ick on it. Gross gross gross you need that _off_ —

There’s a zap and a tilt and suddenly you blink and your arm is clean. Uh?

Cirrus coughs to get your attention. “I am being told that it is expected that you cannot see this being.”

You nod and blink, waiting for him to continue. 

“I will therefore attempt to explain your Gloomversian ignorance away.” Cirrus clenches a fist somewhat dramatically, looking annoyed (not as calm as he wants to be) then crosses his arms. He never quits, does he. “Please be attentive. This is of vital importance for our continued survival.”

No shit. 

“This is a dream. Surely you would know this much?”

…what.

“Um… If this is a dream, how are we in danger? Can’t we just wake up?”

His cape flaps in annoyance, like disturbed by a burst of wind. “We are _physically_ in a dream not our own.”

“Ah.” Hm. Yes. That sounds like a problem.

There are… _monsters_ that can drag people out of reality, or bind themselves to people. They are barely talked about because there are so few of them in your country— the army does a good job keeping them away— but you know that much from middle school… and your own personal experience, though being trapped isn’t what you remember happening to you. 

“Alright. I see what you mean. What about your invisible friend, then?”

Cirrus glances at the literal void again. “They claim to be one of two inhuman dreamers.”

…………………….inhuman. So… one of those monsters. Makes sense. Probably.

“However, as you _would_ know, were you properly educated, this is clearly a superior being, not a beggar like the one you _almost let contract you_.” 

Contract? That’s what the monster was doing to you? It finally hits you, freezes your blood to ice. You clench the hand holding the hat that isn’t quite what you wish it could be, but Cirrus talks on. “They have expressed that they wish to help us leave their mindscape, so we are going to accept their assistance with no strings attached.” 

He looks at you sternly, in the eyes, and you realize that he doesn’t trust your mysterious helper for shit either. 

“Alright, alright.” You raise your hand to appease the game and look where you think the monster might be. Seems to be around your height, from how Cirrus was looking at them, but who’s to say if they’re even humanoid. “How should we refer to you?”

Cirrus glances back to the invisible figure. “They have asked to be called Cara.”

**What now? You may not have the opportunity to stay here much longer…  
The number is 0026.**

* * *

##  [0026](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/189280437160/0026)

  


The last time you had contact with one of these creatures, well… 

You were getting desperate, magicless in a magic country, a failure through and through. You’d heard things. Pacts that made everything better, for a price— a body, a name, a life— a service. 

Of course, giving a magicless person magic wasn’t possible. But that is the thing, with _them_. They are not from your universe, not quite. Anchored elsewhere. _Hungry_. 

For a price, they can break the laws of the world… 

You dust the hat in your hand, turning the unfamiliar name and the familiar memories in your head. You don’t trust any of them. You don’t trust the price you had to pay, either. 

“So… who are you exactly? Why are we here? How? Do all your dreams just.. take people?” You trust Cirrus to relay Cara’s answers. “And who else got dragged in your dream? You make it sound like it was an accident.”

It’s weird to stare at the wall, which enjoys blinking at you more than being helpful, so you stare at Cirrus instead. 

“…these are decent questions,” Cirrus notes, glancing at the stranger. “We would like answers before we proceed with helping you.” 

Technically, you’re the ones getting helped more, but you know it is important not to be indebted where those things are concerned.

“They say… it was an accident. They tried to reach someone and it dragged all of us in..?” Cirrus’s frown deepens. That.. doesn’t sound good at all. Were they trying to possess someone??? “They say about nine people are here, not counting themself as a separate entity.” 

Nine..? 

“Wait. _Wait_.” Your pulse quickens. “There was ten of us. Who’s missing? Is someone dead?”

Cirrus tensed up, but quickly relates an answer back— not everyone who was with you fell along. Nobody is dead. 

_Yet._

_Your focus shifts once again. You groan in frustration, losing the thread you were holding onto to observe. Another, another. There is another…You grasp at it, surprised by its power. It gives you a larger scope. Excellent. Who can you spot?_

_Oh. There is one of yours. Good, good. But you dislike the yelling._

You’re busy screaming, so the focus shifts someplace near. 

When he got here, the Inversian man didn’t even get the luxury to see any of the illusory beauty of the place. No, of course not! He is a lucky man, which means he went right to the freaky hungry eyes. 

He can see the gaping maws spotting the floor, and he’s thankful, in a way, but he had hoped that he’d be rid of this bullshit on that new continent.

But again, he’s a lucky man.

He walks around carefully. The structures around him are tainted, spotted with creepy eyes that follow him lustily, but there is no movement besides a slight constant pulsing— a tremor like the whole thing’s alive. He hates it very much.

There’s nowhere in the area he’s in that looks different from the rest, so he considers heading to the one landmark he can spot— tower. If he isn’t alone here (which is unlikely, if this was a localized incident, he was in the same tent as a few other people) then it’ll probably be where they’re headed— 

The hairs on his neck rise, as if the air has magically become electrified. A chill runs down his spine when he feels the ghost of a presence on his back. 

Evets isn’t alone.

There’s nowhere to hide, though. The walls hush excitedly on his path, the eyes follow him. Whoever is here, they will know.

**What now?  
The number is 0027.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out the [blog](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/post/188931740900/index-faq) to keep reading! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> If you want to learn more about Cara, check out [this link](https://gloomdritch.tumblr.com/tagged/cara/chrono)!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'll update this in batches, so. If you want to send an ask (or simply stay up to date) I invite you to visit the Gloomdritch tumblr blog ^^


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